(from www.crash.net/index.htm)


Mitsubishi privateer, Toni Gardemeister got his season off to a good start on the Rallye Monte Carlo over the weekend, the opening round in the 2007 FIA WRC, by bringing his Lancer WRC car home in seventh place and scoring two drivers' points.


Gardemeister went into the event with very limited experience with the Lancer - and prior to it he had less than 100 kilometres behind the wheel. Despite that though he was running in the points from the off and was in contention for fourth until slipping down the order on Saturday's third leg, when brake issues dropped him from sixth to seventh, behind Petter Solberg's Subaru.


Speaking at the finish though, the Finn was generally happy with the Lancer, noting that it was 'very stable' and 'nice to drive'. Indeed he set top ten stages times on all 15 tests, and was even fifth quickest in SS3, SS8 and SS14, before ending the event with the fourth fastest time in the Monaco GP circuit super special.